No need to reinvent the wheel. Before you, other students have already looked for the good addresses, tried the good deals and learned, sometimes the hard way, what really saves time.
The weekly shopping, settling into your room, your first trips around town: every step has its traps and its shortcuts. You might as well make the most of what others have already found rather than rediscover everything on your own.
Here, no pointless chatter: concrete addresses, tested tips, guides designed to be used straight away. The goal is simple: so that you can focus on your student life, not on logistics.
Where to shop
Reading Paris time…
- open
- closes within the hour
- closed
- hours not surveyed
Hours for an ordinary week, Paris time: public holidays and on-call rotas not included.
Everyday addresses
- 550 m as the crow flies
Hours: Auchan · checked on 16 September 2026
- 950 m as the crow fliesSource
- 1.3 km as the crow flies
Hours: Aldi · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.7 km as the crow flies
Hours: E.Leclerc · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.8 km as the crow flies
Hours: G20 Minute · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.6 km as the crow flies
Hours: Lidl · checked on 16 September 2026
- 900 m as the crow flies
Hours: PagesJaunes (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 550 m as the crow flies
Hours: PagesJaunes (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 3.6 km as the crow flies
Hours: Bottin.fr (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 3.1 km as the crow flies
Hours: Boulangerie Louise · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.1 km as the crow flies
Hours: PagesJaunes (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 500 m as the crow flies
Hours: La Poste · checked on 16 September 2026
- 1.2 km as the crow flies
Hours: La Poste · checked on 16 September 2026
- 3.7 km as the crow flies
Hours: La Poste · checked on 16 September 2026
- 5.3 km as the crow flies
Hours: La Poste · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.5 km as the crow flies
Hours: La Poste · checked on 16 September 2026
- 350 m as the crow flies
Hours: CIC · checked on 16 September 2026
- 400 m as the crow flies
Hours: Crédit Mutuel · checked on 16 September 2026
- 450 m as the crow flies
Hours: LCL · checked on 16 September 2026
- 500 m as the crow flies
Hours: Caisse d'Épargne · checked on 16 September 2026
- 300 m as the crow flies
Hours: SG (Société Générale) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 400 m as the crow flies
Hours: CityWash.fr (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 950 m as the crow fliesSource
- 3.5 km as the crow flies
Hours: LaveriesFrance.fr (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 4.1 km as the crow flies
Hours: PagesJaunes (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.5 km as the crow flies
Hours: Laverie24.fr (directory) · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.4 km as the crow fliesSource
- 3.6 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Cergy · checked on 16 September 2026
- 300 m as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Cergy · checked on 16 September 2026
- 5.3 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Cergy · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.5 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Pontoise · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.0 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Pontoise · checked on 16 September 2026
- 3.1 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Pontoise · checked on 16 September 2026
- 3.2 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville d'Osny · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.5 km as the crow flies
Hours: Ville de Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.3 km as the crow fliesSource
- 1.9 km as the crow flies
by appointment
Hours: CY Cergy Paris Université · checked on 16 September 2026
- 1.3 km as the crow flies
referral by a social workerOn the menu: halal
Hours: Association Le Maillon · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.0 km as the crow flies
Hours: Les Restos du Cœur du Val-d'Oise · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.0 km as the crow fliesSource
- 3.7 km as the crow fliesSource
- 1.4 km as the crow flies
Hours: Emmaüs 95 · checked on 16 September 2026
- 1.3 km as the crow flies
Hours: Association Le Maillon · checked on 16 September 2026
- 650 m as the crow flies
Hours: Les 3 Fontaines · checked on 16 September 2026
- 2.3 km as the crow flies
Hours: Label Emmaüs · checked on 16 September 2026
- 1.4 km as the crow fliesSource
Useful apps
Install them in your first week. Each card opens the official website.
- Île-de-France MobilitésAll public transport in the Paris region: journeys, live traffic and your Navigo pass on your phone.Official website
- SNCF ConnectTrain tickets, to get to Paris or head further away at the weekend.Official website
- Vélib' MétropoleSelf-service bikes in Paris and its inner suburbs, for the nights the metro is asleep.Official website
- LydiaPay a friend back or pay at the school bar in two seconds.Official website
- DoctolibBook a doctor, dentist or physio near you.Official website
- ameliYour health insurance account: Carte Vitale, refunds, certificates.Official website
The Night Shield
The last direct RER A, Châtelet to Cergy-Préfecture
Wednesday
21:31arrives 22:09
Valid from 14 September 2026 to 9 October 2026
The last train won't wait for you. It has never waited for anyone.
Tap an evening: below, what still runs afterwards.
Next departures
Asking the platforms…
Châtelet-Les Halles, towards Cergy
- 21:31Cergy-Préfecturearrives 22:09last direct, surveyed
Weeknights, during the engineering works
Valid from 14 September 2026 to 9 October 2026
These are engineering-works times: the track is being relaid in the evenings. Past the date, nobody swears to anything.
Other last direct trains
- Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile21:36 → 22:09
- La Défense21:40 → 22:09
- Paris Saint-Lazare20:12 → 20:53
After the last direct train
- From 22:00, no RER A between Nanterre-Préfecture and Cergy. RER A to Nanterre-Université, then the replacement bus towards Cergy-Le Haut.
- Semi-fast bus: 22:15 to 01:15, every 15 min, about 45 min longer. Stopping bus: 22:10 to 01:35 per the notice, 01:30 per the timetable.
- At Cergy-Préfecture the bus stops at the bus station, bay G.
The very last journey
Châtelet 01:02 → Nanterre-Université 01:16 → bus 01:30 → Cergy-Préfecture 02:42
From 28/09 to 02/10 there is no 01:02 train in the data: last journey Châtelet 00:45, arriving 02:27.
Source: RER A (RATP / SNCF) · checked on 16 September 2026
Source: Île-de-France Mobilités (horaires prévus) · checked on 16 September 2026
21:31 → Cergy-Préfecture 22:09
Weeknights, during the engineering works
Valid from 14 September 2026 to 9 October 2026
These are engineering-works times: the track is being relaid in the evenings. Past the date, nobody swears to anything.
Other last direct trains
- Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile21:36 → 22:09
- La Défense21:40 → 22:09
- Paris Saint-Lazare20:12 → 20:53
After the last direct train
- From 22:00, no RER A between Nanterre-Préfecture and Cergy. RER A to Nanterre-Université, then the replacement bus towards Cergy-Le Haut.
- Semi-fast bus: 22:15 to 01:15, every 15 min, about 45 min longer. Stopping bus: 22:10 to 01:35 per the notice, 01:30 per the timetable.
- At Cergy-Préfecture the bus stops at the bus station, bay G.
The very last journey
Châtelet 01:02 → Nanterre-Université 01:16 → bus 01:30 → Cergy-Préfecture 02:42
From 28/09 to 02/10 there is no 01:02 train in the data: last journey Châtelet 00:45, arriving 02:27.
Source: RER A (RATP / SNCF) · checked on 16 September 2026
Source: Île-de-France Mobilités (horaires prévus) · checked on 16 September 2026
21:31 → Cergy-Préfecture 22:09
Weeknights, from 12 October
Valid from 12 October 2026 to 15 October 2026
After the last direct train
- Another arrangement appears in the timetable: replacement bus Sartrouville ↔ Cergy-le-Haut from 21:54.
The very last journey
Châtelet 00:55 → Sartrouville 01:16 → bus 01:26 → Cergy-Préfecture 01:56
Seen only in the timetable data, not in an official notice. The data stopped on 15 October.
Source: Île-de-France Mobilités (horaires prévus) · checked on 16 September 2026
00:55 → Cergy-Préfecture 01:33
Saturday and Sunday nights
Valid from 19 September 2026 to 11 October 2026
Other last direct trains
- Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile01:00 → 01:33
- La Défense01:05 → 01:33
- Paris Saint-Lazare00:44 → 01:33
The very last journey
The last direct train is the last journey: Châtelet 00:55 → Cergy-Préfecture 01:33
No works found on these nights. Friday night follows the weekday pattern.
Source: Île-de-France Mobilités (horaires prévus) · checked on 16 September 2026
The night bus, from Saint-Lazare
It leaves from Saint-Lazare, not Châtelet. Better to find out before midnight.
Departures from the “Gare Saint-Lazare” stop, every night
- 01:05
- 01:35
- 02:12
- 02:42
- 03:05
- 03:35
- 04:12
- 04:42
58 min to Cergy-Préfecture
- 01:00
- 01:40
- 02:10*
- 02:50
- 03:40
- 05:00
1 h 24 to Cergy-Préfecture · * 02:10: Friday-to-Saturday and Saturday-to-Sunday nights only
Arrives at Cergy-Préfecture bus station, bay G. No direct night bus from Châtelet.
Valid from 17 September 2026 to 13 October 2026
Source: Île-de-France Mobilités (horaires prévus) · checked on 16 September 2026
From platform to campus
8 min
on foot, under 500 m from Cergy-Préfecture RER station (the school's own figure)
Eight minutes, says the school. At night they feel longer.
Source: l’école · checked on 16 September 2026
If something happens
- 17
Police: assault, offence
- 112
European emergency number, free, 24/7, routed to the right service
- 3117
Victim or witness on public transport: an agent 24/7
Text 31177 - 114
By text, when you cannot speak out loud
Text 114 - 15
SAMU: medical emergency
- 18
Fire brigade: fire, accident, person in danger
- Emergency calls go through with a SIM card, even without a phone plan.
- Texting 114: your name, the exact address, the reason.
- If emergency services call you back, it's from 0 800 112 112. It isn't spam.
- Cergy police station, open 24/7, 4 rue de la Croix-des-Maheux, 95000 Cergy : 01 34 43 17 17
Source: Service Public · checked on 16 September 2026
Source: Service Public (annuaire) · checked on 16 September 2026
Print it: paper has no battery.